The Three Golden Apples
by Russian Blue Witch
Summary: A not-very-well known fairy tale, redone with everybody's favorite Pokemon characters and edited a lot in the process. Enjoy!


**The Three Golden Apples**

Once upon a time there was a man who had three sons. The oldest was named Brock, and he had perpetually closed eyes and was considered ugly (according to his brothers), but he was quite intelligent. The middle one was Tracey, who was tan with black hair and was more handsome than Brock, thought his knowledge was not so great. But the youngest was the fairest and stupidest of all, and his name was Ash. The father loved his youngest best because he was handsome, even though he was stupid.

One day Tracey got sick. Ash could have cared less, but as he was walking through the forest he found a golden apple on the ground. He'd heard amazing stories about golden apples, and how they could cure illnesses. He wasn't surprised to find such a valuable object lying around, because after all he was the handsome and good youngest son, wasn't he? Heroes of fairy tales always had unusually good luck.

He took the apple home and gave it to Tracey, and Tracey got better. Like the foolish boys they were, they threw the seeds away, but Brock found them and said that they should plant the seeds.

There were three seeds, so each got a seed. Ash eagerly planted his, but soon got bored of waiting for the seed to sprout and stopped taking care of it.

Tracey planted his with equal enthusiasm, but he gave the plant too much water and it died.

Brock took only the best care of his tree, and it soon flourished, but despite his best care there was not an apple to be found on its branches. "Never mind," Brock said to himself. "It is still a beautiful and strong tree."

Exactly a year later, word came to the family that King Giovanni's daughter was ill, and that her hand in marriage had been offered to anyone who could cure her. Naturally, all three boys thought of the golden apples.

"Too bad it never grew any," Ash said. "I would have been rich!"

"Hey!" said Tracey. "Why would you be the rich one? I'm older!"

"The youngest one always gets the prize," Ash said. "Anyway, I'm the handsomest. The princess would much rather marry me."

Meanwhile, Brock was looking out the window. He thought it must be his imagination, but he _thought _he saw a glimpse of gold.

He stepped outside and found that the tree now had apples on it- exactly three.

"Hooray!" Ash said, plucking an apple. "Now I shall be rich and will marry a handsome princess!"

"No, I will marry her!" Tracey shouted, plucking an apple of his own. "If it wasn't for my illness, you never would have known the apple's power!"

"Well, I found the apple!" Ash retorted.

Of course, without Brock they wouldn't have had any apples at all. But Brock knew that it was useless to point that out; his father would lecture him for being selfish and send Ash or Tracey off with the apple anyway.

Their father came out and settled the dispute once and for all: Ash was the youngest, and the youngest always succeeds in fairy tales, and it would be a waste of time to send Brock or Tracey.

So Ash started skipping merrily down the path with the golden apple safe in a basket. As he skipped past a patch of tall grass, he heard a strange song. He stopped to listen more carefully. It was something like… "A llama llama llama llama…" He wondered what a llama was.

Suddenly a girl with black hair popped out of the grass. "Oh, hai!" She exclaimed cheerfully, waving to Ash in a very exaggerated manner. "Are you, liek, going somewhere? What's in the basket?" She inched closer, creeping on her hands and knees.

Ash thought the girl must not be right in her head. "Uh, nothing."

"Ooh, nothing, can I see?" She cooed.

"No, uh, goodbye!" Ash ran off.

"Okay, it's nothing then," the girl sighed. "Just nothing."

Ash then made it to the royal city and went up to the gate of the palace. There was a long line of doctors at one door, which he figured must be the door he needed, so he waited in line. He was not by nature patient, and the line moved very slowly because almost all the cures involved waiting for an hour.

Finally the line stopped altogether. Doctors began taking out sleeping bags and lay down right there and went to sleep. It seemed most of them had been waiting all night.

"What happened?" He asked the guard.

"This doctor just insisted we wait for a whole day to see results." She fiddled with her watch. "We still have to wait eighteen more hours. Better get comfortable and be thankful you don't have to stand up all day or lose your job, like me." She took out a hairbrush and some hair gel and began fixing her bright red hair into a huge unnatural curl.

"But I have a cure that will work in only a minute!" Ash insisted.

"You do?" The guard said, yanking a tangle in her surprise. "Well, then, we might as well try it now, hadn't we?"

She quickly ushered Ash into the room where the sick princess lay on her bed.

"I already told you," King Giovanni lectured the guard, "Don't bring any new doctors in! We're still waiting to see if this cure will work."

"But this boy says he has a cure that will work instantaneously!" The guard said.

"Really?" Giovanni was also not patient by nature, and the idea of waiting for a day had not been appealing to him. "Then let us have it!"

"Uh…" Ash reached into his basket and found absolutely nothing. "Um, your majesty, I'm afraid there's nothing in here!"

"WHAT?" The king roared. "I have better things to do than waste time on childish pranks! And you should have known better," he snapped at the guard. "TO THE DUNGEON WITH BOTH OF YOU!"

Meanwhile, the father waited for his beloved Ash, but he never returned home. Finally they got a letter.

Dear Dad,

Ran into a creapy girl who made my aple venish. Got throne in the dugion. Sory.

~Your baloved son, Ash

Their father was naturally very distressed about this. Not Ash's spelling, but that he was thrown into a dungeon. Giovanni was famous for throwing people in jail and leaving them there for so long that he could no longer remember why the person was in jail in the first place and would decide he might as well execute the prisoner, since he liked watching people get executed anyway and besides, why would the person be in jail if he hadn't committed some kind of crime?

Tracey then begged his dad to let him go. At first his dad said no. "My beloved Ash is gone, and now you are the only comfort I have left!"

"But Dad," Tracey said, "If I become a prince, then maybe I can convince Giovanni to let Ash out of jail!" He said this only as a last resort; frankly he didn't care what happened to Ash.

It did the trick. The next day Tracey was running as fast as he could down a road with his apple safely in his basket. As he passed by a field of grass, he heard the strange song that Ash had heard earlier. He, too, wondered what a llama was, and so he stopped and looked at the field. The same girl with the same black hair popped up and gave the same wave. "Oh, hai! You're my second visitor in a week! I don't get many visitors! Would you like some tea?" She held up a shell that was filled with water.

Tracey backed off. "Uh, no thanks, I'm kinda in a hurry…"

"But what's in the basket?" She pressed, crawling forward. "Some cakes for my tea?"

"Uh…" Now, as Ash had not been very specific, Tracey assumed that the crazy girl had stolen Ash's apple. So he said, "Just some Buneary droppings." He had no idea who in their right mind would steal Buneary droppings- but then, this girl was not in her right mind.

"Oh," the girl sighed. "It's just Buneary droppings. Those don't taste good at all."

"Yes," Tracey said. "So I'll just be on my way…" And he ran off as fast as he could go.

He found the same line Ash had found before, only the red haired woman who had been arrested had been replaced by a male guard with… purple hair! Tracey ogled at the guard.

"Cut that out!" The guard snapped at him. "Purple hair isn't _that _unusual."

"It is here," Tracey said. "We're not in an anime anymore. We're in a fairy tale."

"Well cut it out anyway," the guard insisted.

Tracey cut it out, for the most part, but continued to ogle at the guard when he wasn't looking.

"What's so great about ogling at my hair?" The guard demanded when he caught Tracey. "And get out of that line. It's for doctors trying to cure the princess."

"I _am _trying to cure the princess!" Tracey insisted. "I have a magic apple here that'll do the trick."

"Really?" The guard jumped and leaned closer. "Oh… wait…" He wavered, clearly remembering the fate of the last guard who had worked this post.

"No, really," Tracey said. "Why would I lie to you? It would only get me thrown in jail."

"True," the guard mused. "Okay, follow me."

The king, needless to say, was even more unhappy about Buneary droppings than he had been about the empty basket. A few days later, a new note arrived at their father's house, this one with better spelling and more specific.

Dear Dad,

That creepy girl Ash mentioned pulled one on me. She asked what I was carrying and I lied and told her 'Buneary droppings' and my apple was turned into Buneary droppings. I don't know how it happened, honest! But now I'm in jail. Sorry.

~Tracey

Their dad was even more upset about this.

Brock was determined to find his brothers, and he thought he had a brilliant idea. He took the last golden apple from the tree and set out for the castle. Like his brothers before him, he eventually came to a field and heard a stupid song. "A llama llama llama…" The girl popped her head out of a field. "Hiya, peep!"

"Hiya," Brock said, feeling a bit awkward.

"What's in the basket?"

Now was the time to test his theory. Brock stepped forward and took a deep breath. "I have _three _golden apples in this basket. Would you like one?"

The girl looked extremely interested. "Yes, please," she said, creeping close to the basket on her hands and knees. She opened the basket, and inside were the three golden apples that had first grown on the tree.

The girl took one and started to messily devour it, but her bites became smaller and smaller and neater and neater. She got off her hands and knees and sat down like a civilized person. When she had finished the apple, she stood up, on two feet this time. "Thank you so much," she said. "I-I don't know what to say."

"You've said enough," Brock said.

Brock explained his quest and Dawn, as she introduced herself, had nothing better to do so she came along.

The two of them went merrily down the road until they came to the palace. They got in line.

"Get out of that line," one of the guards said. Apparently Giovanni thought one guard hadn't been enough; there were now two guards, one woman with orange hair and one man with green hair.

"Sorry," Brock said politely, "Is this the wrong line?"

"For you, yes," said the woman. "This line is for doctors. You are not a doctor."

"No," said Brock, "but I have a magic apple that will-"

"Yeah, right," said the man. "Look kid, everyone who made that joke before has been thrown in jail, and you know what that means." He drew his finger across his throat. "So you'll wanna get lost."

"But it is real!" Dawn protested. "I was insane before, and he healed me with an apple!"

"Look at this," Brock said, pulling one of the apples out of the basket. It gleamed gold in the afternoon sun.

The guards' eyes popped.

"Tell you what," the man said, "Give me the apple and I'll deliver it."He held out his hand.

But Brock was not born yesterday. "Show me into the princess' room, please," He insisted.

The guard tried to snatch the apple away, but Brock shoved it behind his back. "I want to go to the princess' room," he repeated.

The woman smacked the man. "Here, I'll take you," she said, walking toward the palace. Brock kept his eyes on the man and followed.

"What is it now?" Giovanni demanded. "Another country bumpkin playing a prank?"

Brock didn't answer. He was looking at the princess. She did not have hair as golden as the sun, nor skin as white as a lily, nor eyes as blue as sapphires. She had red hair and freckles and pale green eyes. But it was still beautiful, in a sort of unexpected way.

The princess had been staring at the wall, but now she turned and looked at Brock. Without a word, Brock knelt down and slowly gave her the apple. She took it and looked in wonder at it.

"Eat it," Brock said. "You have to finish it."

The princess nodded and started taking bites. As she ate, she sat up. Her eyes brightened, the color returned to her cheeks, and she seemed less melancholy. Finally, when the apple was finished, she got up and stretched.

"That was amazing," she said. "Thank you, kind sir."

Brock was still in awe of her beauty, but he managed to stammer out, "You're welcome."

"Well," Giovanni said somewhat awkwardly, "You have done a great service to your country, and I thank you. You may go home now."

Brock would have blinked with surprise if he had been capable of blinking.

"Cough, cough, reward?" Dawn said.

"What do you want?" Giovanni growled.

"Didn't you say that whoever cured the princess would get to marry her?" Dawn demanded. "Well, when's that gonna happen?"

"I made no such promise!" Giovanni snarled.

"You did too!" Dawn shouted. She turned to the soldiers. "You heard him, didn't you?"

All the soldiers wished Dawn had not brought them into this. Giovanni was in a nasty mood and clearly would not tolerate any arguments. So none of them said anything.

"Dawn…" Brock said. "Please. Just let it go." He was sad about leaving the princess and leaving his brothers in jail, but he didn't know what else to do.

But someone knew what to do.

"You _did _say you'd give my hand in marriage to whoever cured me, and you know it!" Misty said. "Dadd_y_! Keep your promise for once in your life!"

Everyone winced. Giovanni scowled. Then the green haired guard leaned over and whispered something in Giovanni's ear. Giovanni smiled evilly.

"Fine," he said. "He will marry you…" Giovanni's grin grew wider. "He will marry you _if _he can bring back a feather from the griffin," he said.

"Um, that's okay, I think I'll just…" Brock said.

"I _insist,_" Giovanni said.

Brock glared at Dawn, but then he was struck with inspiration.

"Okay," he said, "But _I _insist on having my brothers as traveling companions."

Giovanni seemed surprised. "Well, certainly. I won't stop you."

"Great," said Brock. "So could you please let my brothers out of jail so they can travel with me?"

Dawn giggled. Misty smiled. Giovanni was even more surprised, but clearly he could see no way out of this situation, because he said, "Of course, of course. What are their names?"

"Ash and Tracey. You threw them in jail just a few days ago. They tried to bring you apples? To cure your daughter?"

If Brock had been trying, he couldn't have made Giovanni more furious. But Giovanni took several deep breathes and then turned to the green haired guard. "Please bring this… _boy _his beloved brothers, if you will."

The green haired guard, who still seemed sore about being unable to trick Brock, bowed out of the room and came back a few minutes later dragging Ash and Tracey roughly. Both of them looked scared out of their wits.

"Your beloved brother," Giovanni began, "Has requested your presence on his quest for the princess' hand. I will provide you with Rapidashes, food, etcetera, and you shall bring me back a feather from the griffin's tail. If you do not return in three days, you will be presumed dead. Any questions? No? Good. You leave at once."

Several guards herded Brock, Tracey, Ash, and Dawn out of the room and into the stables, where Rapidashes were pulled out for them, bags were given them, and they were set on the road, because this story is going slow enough as it is without spending time on packing.

Back in the castle, Giovanni thanked the green haired man for his brilliant idea. "He will never return alive, and I am rid of the pest," he said. "As a reward, you may marry my daughter."

"What?" Misty screeched. "I will do no such thing!"

"Yes, you will," said Giovanni, who did not like being told what to do.

"N-O spells no, as in 'no way!'" Misty shouted back. She also did not like being told what to do.

"Then you will stay in your room until you learn to obey," Giovanni said.

Everyone left, and the guards were ordered to keep the princess in her room on threat of death.

"But you know," Giovanni said, "I suppose I might as well make sure those creepy farm kids don't return alive. I'll send a couple soldiers after them. Hmm, as this is a dangerous journey, I wouldn't like to risk the lives of any _good _soldiers…" he paced for a while. Then he said, "What were the names of those two guards I had thrown in jail just a few days ago? Over the apple prank?"

The green haired guard eagerly replied, "Jessie and James, sir."

"Bring them to me," Giovanni said.

Jessie and James were hauled into the room. Both looked terrified.

"You two," Giovanni said. "I have gotten rid of some… unwanted suitors for the princess by sending them on a quest for a griffin's tail feather. I would like you to follow them and make sure they never come back alive. If you succeed, I will reward you… quite well."

The two unfortunate guards brightened up instantly.

"Yes, sir!"

"You can count on us, sir!"

"Good," said Giovanni. "Now go!"

Misty, who had heard the whole plan through the door, tied her bed sheets into a rope and escaped out the window. Then she fetched another Rapidash and rode until she caught up with Brock, Tracey, Ash and Dawn.

"Hiya," she said. "Mind if I join you?"

At first Brock protested, but as it became apparent that Misty was going to come whether he liked it or not, he agreed.

So they rode in a random direction, having no idea where to go, but riding in random directions often gets you far in fairy tales; in this case, they ran into a glass mountain, which was too slippery to climb up.

"We're doomed to perish in the wilderness!" Ash moaned.

"We can just leave," Dawn suggested.

"Or go around the mountain," Tracey said.

"That would take an awful long time," Misty mused.

"I wish there was a faster way."

"There's a blacksmith's shop over there," Brock said. "Maybe he can make us some tools to climb the mountain with."

So they went into the shop.

"Can we buy some glass mountain climbing tools?" Dawn asked.

"I don't deal in glass tools, miss. I'm a blacksmith."

"No!" Misty snapped, being impatient. "Tools to climb the glass mountain!"

"Oh," the blacksmith said. "Okay, I'll give you some tools if you serve me for seven years."

"What?" All of them shouted.

"That's highway robbery!" Tracey said.

"Well, I'm the only blacksmith in town, you see, so I have a kind of monopoly," the blacksmith explained.

"But _seven years_?" Dawn shrieked, going into hysterics.

"How long does it take you to make these stupid tools anyway?" Misty asked.

"Uh, actually I have some on hand right now, but as there are five of you I'll need another two hours to make more sets…"

"Then I shall pay you…" Misty took out her purse. "Ten gold pieces, five for your materials and five for your time. That is my final offer, and if you don't take it we will just walk around the mountain."

The blacksmith grumbled but complied. He built their tools and the five of them climbed over the mountain with no trouble. Actually, a lot of trouble, but nothing I'm going to bother to say. This story is already seven pages long and we haven't reached the conflict.

Jessie and James went to the same blacksmith, seeking the same thing, and got the same answer, but they used a different solution.

"I would be more generous if I were you," Jessie said. "You see, we are on the king's business."

"You mean- Giovanni?" The blacksmith asked.

James nodded. "And he'd be very angry with you if he knew that you were holding us up."

The blacksmith gave them some tools for free.

Brock's party then came to a bottomless pit, too wide to jump across.

"Now what?" Tracey asked.

"Now we take a break." Ash plopped down on the grass. "I'm hungry. We were waiting for the blacksmith a long time."

"Yes, let's eat!" Dawn started digging through the saddlebags. "Ooh, cake!"

Tracey dragged Brock aside for a minute. "Are you sure that girl is really cured?"

Brock shrugged. "Maybe it's just in her nature to be a little… silly. Like Ash."

Tracey did some weird things with his face and then nodded. "Okay…"

Jessie and James watched from the bushes.

"What's going on?" Jessie asked. "Have they given up?"

"I don't think so…" James said. "But maybe we should just kill them now."

"It'll be five to two," Jessie said. "And remember, when we were studying sword fighting, we graduated last of our class."

"Oh, well, uh…" James shrugged. "Uh, let's hope a tree falls on them or something."

"Brilliant, James!" Jessie said.

"Oh, thank you… what did I say?"

A moment later, as Brock and Tracey started eating their lunch, Tracey shouted "Look out!"

Everyone dove out of the way as a tree came crashing down on where they had just been sitting.

"Aw, man!" Ash said. "It squashed the cake!"

Everyone glared at him, except Dawn.

"Hey look!" Misty said, pointing. The tree had fallen across the bottomless pit.

"Great," said Brock. "Let's go!" And they crossed the pit.

"So much for your brilliant idea," Jessie told James.

"Me! You were the one who…"

Safely on the other side of the bridge, they now came to a new obstacle: A river.

"This is lamer than the bottomless pit," Ash said.

"Well," Brock said, "We can't really walk around it."

Then a ferry boat came around the bend. "Hi!" The ferry girl said. "I'm May, and I'm here to take you across the river! But first, a short disclaimer: across the river are dangerous monsters and the owner of the property assumes no responsibility for loss of life or other damage caused. Do you still wish to cross?"

"Yeah, sure," said Brock. "We're trying to capture one of those monsters. Uh, Tracey?"

Tracey seemed a little lost. He stepped up on the boat and asked May, "What's a pretty girl like you doing in such dangerous terrain?"

May blinked and wiped her eyes. "I'm cursed," she said.

"What?" Everyone said.

"I wandered too far from my village, and a tall man in a black cape grabbed me and knocked me out. When I woke up, I was on this boat, and he shoved the paddle into my hand and told me to carry people across the river to see his zoo. So I did, and at first there were lots of people and I loved my job. I got to meet a lot of nice girls. But then, for some reason, they stopped coming, and a man planted a sign that said 'closed' on the other side and told me that if anyone wanted to cross the river, I'd have to give them a disclaimer first. Several people came wanting to be ferried to the other side, but none have ever come back." May brushed a tear from her eye.

Tracey patted her hand. "Don't worry," he said. "We'll find a way to free you."

"What happens if you try to put the paddle down?" Misty asked.

"I can't. My hand is stuck to the paddle."

Ash grabbed the paddle and leaned back to pull with all his might. He fell over; the paddle came obligingly out of May's hand.

"Huh," said Misty. "I guess you can't put it down yourself, but you have to have someone else take it."

"Hey!" Ash shouted. "_My_ hands are stuck now!"

Brock took it out of Ash's hand.

Tracey took it out of Brock's hand.

Dawn took it out of Tracey's hand.

"We can stand here playing pass-the-paddle all day," May said, "Or I can row you across the river. Which one?"

They let her row them over. On the other side was a grand archway that said "Professor Oak's Magical Menagerie". If it had been a zoo, it looked abandoned. There were rusty cages everywhere, some of which had the bars bent open or the door unlocked. No animals were in any of the cages.

The five of them walked along the path, looking for the griffin. None of them knew why, but they felt it must be there.

Jessie and James, who had hopped on the ferry behind them, were stealthily following them around.

"Why do I keep hearing twigs snapping behind us?" Dawn asked.

Okay, maybe not so stealthily.

"This is weird," Tracey said. "Sometimes zoos have statues of animals, but not in the cages." They checked the cages. In every instance where the cage was not broken open, there was an animal statue in the cage.

"And they usually don't have human statues," Ash mused, pointing to a cluster of statues near a tree.

"Especially not in such awkward poses…" Misty said. "They look terrified… uh oh…"

A huge snake burst out of the bushes, hissing dramatically.

Everyone, Jessie and James included, screamed.

Everything happened so fast, Brock couldn't tell who was zapped first, but in less than a minute, everyone had turned to stone- except him, even though he'd accidentally made eye contact with the snake several times.

The snake looked disappointed, but then he saw Brock. Again their eyes met, but nothing happened.

The snake looked delighted. "My eyessss don't turn you to ssssstone? Exssssellent! Come here, ssssstonelessssss one!"

Brock ran as fast as he could. The snake followed him. Brock tried losing him through a group of trees, and while the snake did not lose him, it did slow the snake down.

"You cannot esssscape, ssssstonelessss one!" The snake hissed. "I can ssssssmell you!"

Brock ducked into a cage that was too small for the snake to enter, he hoped, and tripped over something lying on the grass.

"Gah!" The whatever-it-was cried. "Watch where you're going!"

Brock looked down in shock. It was the griffin.

The griffin clearly had been majestic once, but not anymore. His feathers, in glorious shades of brown and gold, were falling out; his eyes, a mystical purple, were clouded over; his talons, sharp and deadly, were coated in mud; his golden lion's tail seemed broken.

"What happened?" Brock asked.

"Basilisk…" the griffin croaked.

"Broke out of his cage… I tried to stop him, got bitten… everyone turned to stone…"

Wordlessly, Brock pulled the last gold apple out of his pocket and handed it to the griffin.

The griffin looked at him, puzzled, then snapped the apple out of his hand and swallowed it in one gulp.

Instantly his eyes became clear, and he stood up and shook himself, shaking the loose feathers away and revealing a new, bright coat underneath. He wagged his tail and looked up at Brock with admiration in his eyes.

"Thanks a bunch," he said, sitting on his haunches and extending his paw to shake. "You can call me 'Meowth'."

"Meowth?" Brock asked.

"It's my name, okay?" The griffin said, looking a bit testy. "Now, to take care of that snake. You should stay here; you'll be safer."

As he spoke, the snake slithered over to the cage. "Oh?" He looked at the griffin curiously. "Oh, I'm sssssso sssssssorry, griffin! I thought you had perisssssshed! I'm sssssssso sssssssorry!"

"Hey, hey, calm down, what's this about?" This griffin asked. "I thought you wanted to escape."

"I thought sssssssso…" the basilisk said, "But the sssscarf ssssslipped from my eyessss and I haven't eaten anything sssssinsssse…. Everything I sssssee turnsssss to ssssstone!"

Meowth gave an indulging smile. "Now don't worry, everything will be fine. Err," he glanced at Brock, "could you put the scarf back over his eyes please? I would do it myself, but, uh…" he shuffled his paws around.

"Sure," Brock said. "Where is it?"

A minute later he had blindfolded the snake.

"Why don't you get petrified by the snake?" Brock asked. "You made direct eye contact with him and didn't flinch."

"Oh, I have cats' eyes," Meowth explained. "Snakes and cats can't be harmed by gaze attacks. It's just one of the rules of magic that doesn't make an enormous amount of sense. Now come on, I know where to find some petrifaction antidote."

He showed Brock a small glass vile and told him to pour some liquid on all of the statues, except a couple which were dangerous animals- he should let the zookeeper handle it, once the zookeeper was cured. A while later, the zoo was back to normal and all the people were transformed back. None of them could thank Brock enough, least of all the zookeeper, Professor Oak, who had also been stone.

"I should have paid more attention when Meowth insisted the basilisk wanted to escape," he sighed. "This whole mess is my fault."

"Oh, don't worry," said Brock. "It's all fixed now."

"I just hope I don't get sued," he said. "But Brock, I'd like to reward you for the service you've done me."

"Oh, it's not necessary, really…" Brock said, but Professor Oak insisted on giving him some gold to take home, and after a while he stopped protesting.

Professor Oak also presented Misty with a gorgeous necklace of emeralds and sapphires. "They match your eyes," he said.

Meanwhile, Brock's other party members had found Jessie and James. Ash and Tracey recognized them.

"You're that guard who got thrown in jail because of my disappearing apple!" Ash said. "Why are you following us?"

"Um, just following orders," Jessie stammered.

Tracey and Ash wanted to beat the two of them up, but Brock stopped them.

"They only did what made sense in their situation," Brock said. "We can't really fault them."

"Hey," said Dawn, "Is that the griffin?"

"Yeah," Meowth said. "I am."

"But wasn't the goal to get a feather from its tail?" Tracey said.

"Yeah," said Brock.

"It doesn't have feathers on its tail! It has fur!"

Everyone groaned.

"Ooh, my dirty, cheating father!" Misty growled. "He just makes me so mad sometimes!"

"Hey, look," said Meowth, licking his paw and grooming his face, "I like you guys, so I'll come along, and maybe you can explain to this unreasonable father of yours. Who's the louse anyway?"

"He's the king," said Misty, clearly ashamed.

"Oh." The griffin snorted.

They all headed home. All of them were dreading Giovanni's reaction.

Jessie and James could not be persuaded to return, seeing as all that awaited them was a death sentence, so they stayed with Professor Oak and became zookeepers.

May remained to ferry people across, saying she didn't mind as much now that the zoo was open again, but Tracey vowed to find a way to free her.

Compared to the trip there, the trip home was even more uneventful. Finally they reached the palace.

Brock swallowed hard and stepped up to the door, but before he could knock, Giovanni stormed out, clearly enraged about something else, but his anger mounted when he saw that Brock had returned alive.

"Your majesty," Brock began, "I'm afraid we couldn't fulfill your request…"

"Where did you get that?" Giovanni interrupted, staring at Misty's necklace.

Misty was about to respond, but Tracey got there first. "Oh, that?" He said. "That's just one of the treasures we picked up on the griffin's island. It's covered with gold, you know."

Giovanni clearly did not. "Is there more?" He asked.

"Much more," said Tracey. "Here, I'll show you." And he led Giovanni away.

He returned the next day leading May by the hand.

"Where's my father?" Misty asked.

"Row, row, rowing his boat, gently down the stream!" Tracey sang happily.

"Wh- you just left him there?" She shrieked.

"Misty…" Brock said, "I can understand why you'd be angry, but maybe this _is _for the best. I mean, Giovanni didn't do so well running the kingdom. You'd make a better queen."

Misty smiled. "And you," she said, taking Brock's hands, "would make a better king."

And so they all lived happily (most of the time) ever after.


End file.
